Washington Governor Jay Inslee has signed into law Senate Bill 6037, which substantially updates and improves Washington’s version of the Uniform Parentage Act (UPA).

The UPA is the law that addresses how people are legally recognized as parents. This update strengthens protections for LGBTQ parents and non-biological parents, while maintaining the protections for rape survivors created by the 2017 Rape Survivor Safety Act.

Same-sex couples who are considering gay surrogacy to conceive their families should examine the serious risks of unregulated programs overseas, said Bill Houghton, founder of the Sensible Surrogacy Guide.

As same-sex couples increasingly look for options to conceive children, many are choosing programs in countries without basic protections, according to Bill Houghton, founder of the Sensible Surrogacy Guide. Some destinations popular with gay couples have no specific legislation on surrogacy. This opens the door to unregulated programs with serious risks.

On Jan. 25, 2018, the Appellate Division, Third Department, issued a significant decision in Matter of Christopher YY v. Jessica ZZ, 2018 NY Slip Op 00495. Underlying the court’s determination is the conundrum which it describes as follows: “Application of existing case law involving different-gender spouses, addressing whether the presumption [of legitimacy] has been rebutted, to a child born to a same-gender married couple is inherently problematic, as it is not currently scientifically possible for same-gender couples to produce a child that is biologically ‘the product of the marriage’ [citations omitted].”

Andrew Powell, barrister of 4 Paper Buildings, considers recent developments relating to surrogacy law, including new guidance, as well as the latest cases concerning administrative errors and the HFEA.

H (A Child: Surrogacy Breakdown) [2017] EWCA Civ 1798 (17 November 2017)
Like so many of the reported surrogacy cases in this jurisdiction, in H (A child: Surrogacy breakdown) [2017] EWCA Civ 1798 the court – on this occasion, the Court of Appeal – highlights once more some of the complexities of surrogacy in the absence of any form of regulation.

The facts of this case can be summarised as follows. A and B were a male same-sex couple who entered into a surrogacy agreement with C and D who were a heterosexual married couple. A’s sperm and a donor egg resulted in C’s pregnancy with H. The parties’ relationship broke down subsequently and communication between them ceased. After the birth, the solicitors representing C and D wrote to A and B to inform them that they no longer wished to follow the terms of the agreement and would not provide their consent to the making of a parental order (one of the essential ingredients under s54 of the HFEA 2008).

LGBT people have gradually stepped out from shadows over the last 50 years, not only transforming our own lives, but those of our families and communities. A generation or two ago, the children we raised were born of previous heterosexual relationships. This began to change in the 1970s and ‘80s, aided by helpful court rulings that reflected cultural sea change in attitudes toward gay people in general. In 1997, New Jersey became the first state to allow same-sex couples to adopt jointly.

Adoption, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and surrogacy are now viable avenues available for LGBT individuals and couples. Ultimately, the choice of how to build your family (adoption vs. fertility treatment) is a personal decision based on many factors. Those who seek help from assisted reproductive technologies want to have children with whom they share a genetic connection. What is this path like?

Raised by three lesbian parents, Jordan Waller had just a brief description of his biological father. Despite being bullied as a child, the actor says his upbringing has been a blessing

Supporting roles: Waller, 25, says his unconventional family has informed his acting career

I know about my dad is that he is a 6ft-tall doctor with brown hair and green eyes. My parents chose him from a list at a sperm bank in Bristol, and from the moment I was old enough to understand, they were open with me that I was born via artificial sperm donor insemination to my biological mum, Miranda.

The donor was chosen to match mum’s partner, Dawn, in terms of her physical characteristics, so on paper I should have been tall and dark, but I turned out to be blond and blue-eyed. My mum likes to joke that they must have mixed up the sperm

The parents of a sperm donor have won the right to have contact with their four-year-old biological grandson in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.

Three senior judges ruled that encouraging the boy’s relationship with his paternal family would help him understand the “big picture of his birth story”. The boy was born to a gay female couple, one of whom knew the donor, Lord Justice Peter Jackson said. There was no dispute that he was legally their child but, for the first three years of his life, the natural father had regular contact with the boy.

The Supreme Court on Monday let stand an Arizona ruling that said paternity should be applied the same way in same-sex marriages as it is in opposite-sex marriages when it comes to determining parental rights.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday let stand an Arizona ruling that said paternity should be applied the same way in same-sex marriages as it is in opposite-sex marriages when it comes to determining parental rights.

The court’s refusal to hear the case means Suzan McLaughlin still has parental rights over the child that Kimberly McLaughlin conceived through artificial insemination while the two were married.

NORWALK, Conn. (WTNH) — Marriage equality has given more same-sex couples confidence to start a family – making local fertility clinics busier than ever. News 8’s Connecticut Families begins a two part look at what’s being called a Gay Baby Boom.

“Someone’s sexuality doesn’t necessarily come into playing regards to their desire to be a parent,” says Dr. Mark Leondires.

Suddenly, 60% of his clients are prospective parents who are gay, many of them male couples.

“For a long time, being a LBGT, we worried about safety,” he explains. “Now, with almost a stamp of validation from our Supreme Court, there’s a sense of safety and you feel like you’re family is going to be safe, as well.”

NORWALK, Conn. (WTNH)–Marriage equality has given more same-sex couples the confidence to start a family, making local fertility clinics busier than ever. It’s being called a Gay Baby Boom. In Part 2 of a special series, News 8 introduces viewers to a Westport couple, sharing their personal journey to have kids.

“It was something I always did want but didn’t think it was in my realm of possibilities,” says Greg Zola. As a young, gay man, he wasn’t sure he could realize his dream of becoming a parent.

The U.S. Supreme Court this morning rejected a bid by a Tucson woman arguing that gay marriages are not legally the same as others, at least when it comes to divorce.

Without comment the justices rejected a bid by Kimberly McLaughlin to deny shared custody of her biological child with Suzan McLaughlin, who she was legally married to at the time of the child’s birth.

Keith Berkshire, Kimberly McLaughlin’s attorney, acknowledged to the justices that two prior rulings had said that all marriages are entitled to the same benefits.

There are several reasons to consider using a surrogate to bear your child. Male same-sex couples who want to have a biological child often use a surrogate. Some women are unable to carry and bear a child due to cancer treatment, genetic conditions, having had a hysterectomy, or medical conditions that make it dangerous for them to get pregnant. Sometimes couples use a surrogate when other fertility treatments have not been successful for them or there are problems with the female partner’s uterus. You may have heard of celebrity couples who have used surrogates, such as Jimmy Fallon and his wife Nancy Juvonen, and Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. Here are some facts you need to know before you start on your journey to a family with a surrogate.

Traditional methods aren’t typically available for queer people to grow their families, and growing families non-traditionally can be expensive. What are the options and costs for queer couples and individuals to consider when family planning?

The cost to raise a child from birth to 18 years old, not including family planning or college, is estimated by the USDA to be about $245,340. For many LGBT families, this is the minimum cost. This is why lack of financial planning when family planning could put queer families at financial risk.

A state appeals court in Brooklyn on Wednesday recognized the “presumption of legitimacy”—that a child born during a marriage is presumed to be the two spouses’ child—for a same-sex married couple that had been fighting to stop a male sperm donor from asserting parental rights to their daughter.

The ruling is the third time in the last five months that a state appeals court has made clear that New York’s family law presumption of legitimacy applies to same-sex couples—just as it does to heterosexual couples.

It allows women to share the motherhood experience from the stage of conception.

Getty images

More and more lesbian couples are having babies thanks to a super cool fertility treatment known as ‘shared motherhood’. What’s cool about it? Both women are involved in the process, as one’s eggs are used, and the other carries the child. I know, science is awesome.

New research carried out by The London Women’s Clinic, has revealed just how successful and efficient shared motherhood fertility treatment is proving to be. So here’s everything you need to know about the process. Plus, a success story from a couple who’ve become parents this way.

A gay man suffering severe pain from cancer was mortified to discover he was only able to donate sperm to a female partner.

Logan Morton, 22, received the shock diagnosis he had acute myeloid leukemia in April last year, and after being warned the treatment could make him infertile, arranged to store healthy sperm through Fertility Associates.

Severely debilitated from the cancer, Morton asked a nurse to fill out the paperwork, and noticed afterwards that he was only given the option of donating his sperm to a female partner.

GREENWICH — When Wear Culvahouse, a Greenwich obstetrician-gynecologist, delivered a baby for the first male same-sex parents at Greenwich Hospital in 2004, he saw doors opening for himself as well.

The team assembled to to help the male couple included personnel from labor and delivery, the nursery and administration. They set up two rooms at Greenwich Hospital: One for the new fathers to learn how to bathe, feed and change their baby, and one for their surrogate to recover.